Social Studies

Week One Lesson Plan

The Pledge of Allegiance

Strand 3: Civics/Government
Concept 1: Foundations of Government
PO 1: Describe the history and meaning of national symbols, documents, songs, and monuments that represent American democracy and values.
B. Pledge of Allegiance.

Activity:
Day 1: Have a group discussion on the Pledge of Allegiance. Ask students why they think they say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. Document their responses.
Day 2: Hand out a copy of the Pledge of Allegiance to each student. Ask the students for words or sayings that they may not understand or have never heard of. Begin a list of words and sayings to reefer back to for clarification.
Day 3: Have the students work in groups to replace the words that they were not familiar with with more common words.
Day 4: Have students work independently to type up the knew Pledge.
Day 5: Have students recite their new Pledge of Allegiance in their groups in front of the class.

Flag Coloring Page: Have students print from this link the American Flag. Students can color the flag and paste their Pledge of Allegiance under the colored in flag.
http://www.freekidscoloring.com/eightinch_american_flag-16302.php

This video link is great way for students to understand the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance.
http://patriotfiles.org/Pledge.htm


Week Two Lesson Plan:

The National Anthem

Strand 3: Civics/Government
Concept 1: Foundations of government
PO 1: Describe the history and meaning of national symbols, documents, songs, and monuments that represent American democracy and values.
C. National Anthem.

Day 1: Ask students if they are familiar with the National Anthem. Play the National Anthem for them and review the words.
Day 2: Play National Anthem again. Listen to the words and ask the students what they hear in the words. Document their responses.
Day 3: Have the students review the National Anthem individually. Assign parts of the National Anthem to each student.
Day 4: Have the students practice their parts in small groups. Each students gets a turn to read.
Day five: The students will recite their part in front of the class and explain what their section means.

Websites and Worksheets:

Choose from the links in the website below to further understand the concepts and meanings of the National Anthem.

http://sd54.org/schools/armstrong/hays/patriotic/

Words to the National Anthem:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0194015.html

Listen to the National Anthem:

http://www.brownielocks.com/starspangledbannerWAVE.html